#as many other princes of death this is a fun interpretation
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Prince of Death
doing the background made me go crazy and then i realized i had the textures for the deathbed dream skybox teehee.
#as many other princes of death this is a fun interpretation#i still wanna smooch every godwyn tho. canon fanon before stabbing after stabbing i love em all#godwyn prince of death#godwyn the golden#elden ring#body horror#fish#branches#cern's art
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THE BIG QSMPSTUCK LOREDUMP
AKA: I finally get to do all the lorebabble I wanted to do.
EDIT (11/1/2023): THIS VERSION IS NOW OUT OF DATE AND DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PEOPLE IN THE ICE CUBES. I AM CURRENTLY REWORKING PARTS OF THIS BUT MOST SHOULD STAY THE SAME FOR THE NEW POSTS SANS BAGHERA, KAMETO, AND DANTDM'S CLASSPECTS! LOOK FORWARD TO UPDATED POSTS IN THE FUTURE.
SOME NOTES:
1. I have a very specific version of qsmpstuck going on with my art I make that I made with a group of friends (thanks Slimercord!)
2. There are other people who made other classpects and takes on QSMP characters that are more character based, mine is not that case, it looks at how QSMP as a whole would work as a full sburb session, and balancing how many people would be on each aspect or class to carry that motif of Homestuck's balancing/equal duality theme. This means I am looking at and using Classpects as a narrative & plot device, not necessarily a personality test like how someone would classpect a real person (This is how the Extended Zodiac works, and why I choose to ignore it for character classpecting. It works great for classpecting real life people though, so by all means you can use the EZ for you and your friends!).
3. AND WITH THAT! It means two people per aspect and and class, with the exception of space and time having three people, and knights and heirs having three people.
4. FAIR WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NEVER READ HOMESTUCK, THERE IS LOTS OF DEATH IN IT, WITH LOTS OF RESURRECTIONS. I WILL BE DISCUSSING DEATH IN A VERY JOKING MANNER HERE!
5. For posterity in case things change in the future: This post was made August 2nd 2023, after the French were added, and right before the Election arc finished. I'm sure if I came back to this after QSMP is over my classpecting would be different. (Updated August 20, 2023)
I'll add this again at the bottom but if you want more of my notes and thought processes or just more qsmpstuck in general here's the link to my tag for all qsmpstuck on this blog, and here's the link to all qsmpstuck on my regular mcyt blog. (my regular blog includes other people's qsmpstuck takes & reblogs however! But every classpect analysis I reblogged in there w/ an anonymous ask sent to the OP was me on anon lol)
HERE WE GO! The big ol google doc sheet I had to make for this. Every note on that godtier order list is how we decided the character would godtier, and we still aren't even technically done! I have so much information built up for this AU I am not sure I could include all of it in this post.
CLASSPECTS
Anyway, in terms of classpects, the way we went about deciding was 1. Finding symbolic meanings we felt fit the characters best 2. If the classpect was funny and had a fun double entendre to the character 3. If we really struggled, we went and picked up Dahni Witch of Light's classpect analyses and found which class fit a character best within an aspect we had a vague idea of. I find Dahni's analyses to be the best at classpecting non-homestuck characters with, because they give enough leeway in interpretation and are somewhat broad, while still applying as a fictional character's story arc, rather than solely a personality test. We also basically ignored most classpect's assigned "role" concept thingy, they were too nebulous in meaning to help much, with the only ones we kept being Sylphs are the passive creation class with Maids as the active creation class, and then Bards are passive destruction, Princes are active destruction.
AND NOW BACK TO THE CUBES YOU CARE ABOUT: As stated before, we did lay it out so we (mostly) only had two per aspect and class, to get that true fan session balancing spirit. Space/time and knight/heir are the only ones with three members. Here's how the outfits look!
My favorites here & their reasonings are:
- Etoiles: Sylph of Blood - We all agreed him getting a classpect that is at least somewhat silly would be fitting, but all immediately came to the conclusion that he would hands down be a blood player. From his love of fighting, and the way he goes about befriending everyone he meets to help them, he's just so blood player. To balance out our initial silly classpecting idea, we made him a Sylph! It fits, like, really well! He creates friendship, he helps people, like. What more could you want from a classpect for him.
- Mariana: Maid of Doom - I sent these two asks to this other person about this and liked their reasonings lol.
- Spreen: Prince of Breath - Look I'm a Spreengirl I think he would play a great active destruction class and he takes away other's freedom (in minecraft). He kills people. He's just so Prince to me. It's really funny.
- BBH: Knight of Life - Do you know how funny it is to take a guy who's whole thing is that he's like entirely black and red themed and put him in the burlap sack outfit. Also Knight & Space player frog breeding combo. He's working with Foolish on those frogs.
- Foolish: Page of Space - This guy is the ultimate builder of all time ever. He was hands down the easiest to look at and go Oh he is THE space player here.
- Fit: Prince of Space - Y'know 2b2t and hacked clients and griefing people? Prince of Space. Plus since he's a space player, soooo
- Philza: Knight of Rage - Another great Space & Knight combo. This guy is such a hater on QSMP (positive) he doubts easily distrusts whenever necessary. Such a rage player.
- Missa: Bard of Time - Missa is really failgirl I know quite a few people haven't like... watched much of his MC stuff. However you should check out when he had to be placed in a box to fish by himself so he wouldn't die a third time in Minecraft Extremo. He's a perfect Bard, and then he does music. Great set up for a Time player. Wouldn't want it any other way.
- Antoine: Seer of Void - truly. Truly. A guy I looked at for two minutes and immediately knew what classpect he needed. That scene where he just like lightly questioned Cellbit after he escaped the federation and it made Cellbit so nervous he started just saying things that made him look way more nervous than necessary? Core Antoine moment for me. The fact he has a basement filled with so much writing on every candidate? The fact he hides his true face so much? We don't even know what's going on there? Void Player. Seer. So fitting it's beautiful to me.
- Felps: Maid of Breath - Look, breath is THE aspect of freedom and doing what you want at your own pace. I think I would be committing a cardinal sin if I DIDN'T make Felps a breath player.
- Tazercraft: Witch of Doom & Page of Time - They get to do a fucked up glitch timeloop. With these two classpects they can literally do whatever they want forever. Witch of Doom is a classpect that you give to a character if you know they can rip everything to shreds, have fun doing it, but wouldn't (usually) use it to actively hurt people out of true malice (for no reason) (a witch can DEFINITELY respond negatively if push comes to shove). Page of Time is so funny as a classpect also. Just like... Look up what the Page godtier outfit looks like. You'll see what I mean... And why Pac is a page.
- Rubius: Waste of Breath - This classpect sounds really mean, sorry. I promise I like Rubius. He's supposed to be a stand in for what the Hussie author insert was in Homestuck, opposing Doc Scratch and fighting him. Hussie was a Waste of Space, I wanted to keep the pun with waste here. Breath worked the best. The federation has a Lord of Blood ability to counter him. Neither of these two count for the main classpect total.
One day I might post a copy of the google sheet and link it for more in-depth reasonings for every character, but like... almost everyone had reasonings like this where we spent waaay too long analyzing everyone LMAO. This is getting long as is, so I'll cut off classpecting here.
DREAMING MOONS
I am about to say something that will make people either really mad or really happy. There is no canon true definition of what assigns you a dreaming moon in Homestuck's text. The only thing we can glean from canon about which moon you get is that Prospit humans make their bed in the morning, and Derse humans don't. Needless to say, this doesn't help when you want to individually give each person a dreaming moon, but it IS great news for me: it makes assigning dreaming moons based on dividing the cast in half really, really easy. That is how it worked for the troll session, it was cut in half with teams, and then assigned based on red team vs blue team. So that is what I did here. All of the English speakers were given Prospit, and all of the Hispanic side were given Derse. This has lore relevance. We'll get back to it in a moment.
Also for note, the Federation is Prospit, with Dersite carapacians being a more nebulous identity against the Federation. Hispanic side was given Derse because they just seem more like Derse guys. Plus the whole Time on Derse/Space on Prospit theme going on in original HS canon is something I kinda wanted to go along with.
Quackity was given dual dreamer, with one of his dreamselves being ElQuackity, hence why he isn't listed. To balance this, we had to make another dual dreamer, and figured handing it to Kameto, who basically is permanently lost in the void, would be a good balance.
The French and Brazilian sessions were assigned using the "well this character would make sense here" method.
Server/Client Orders & Session Chains
If anyone needs a brief refresher, a client is the person you get into a sburb session, and a server is the person gets you into the session. Everyone is a client and a server to someone different. (tl;dr John was Rose's client, Rose was John's Server.) THAT BEING SAID! It means the loop for sessions close once you're all connected to both a client and a server. There are three separate sessions here, and one of them is a mobius double reacharound.
For clarity, the arrows mean: Client <- Server
The Original session, the mobius double reacharound, is the Spanish-English session. The order is
Quackity <- Mariana <- Spreen <- Roier <- Missa <- Vegetta <- Maxo <- Luzu (<- BBH)
BBH <- Foolish <- Slimecicle <- Jaiden <- DanTDM <- Fit <- Philza <- Wilbur (<- Quackity)
Because of the nature of a Mobius Double Reacharound, it means BBH and Quackity enter the session first, by technicality. The first person in a session is also the person who does the ectobiology. Unlike the troll session which only had Karkat as the ectobiologist, if Q!Quackity were the sole ectobiologist, no clones would be made and everyone would be stuck in a paradox, so I think it's funnier if BBH and Q had to work together on Ectobiology. I find their dynamic hilarious. Anyway, Luzu and Wilbur had to be the last in their respective chains, because no one else would be able to enter.
The next chain is the Brazilian closed Session, which is
Forever <- Mike <- Pac <- Felps <- Cellbit (<- Forever)
As previously mentioned, Pac e Mike (uou uou) have very good classpects to make up for the fact they have no space player. I'll come back to this.
The final chain is the French closed session. It goes
Baghera <- Antoine <- Etoiles <- AyPierre <- Kameto (<- Baghera)
They have balanced moons! They have a space player! They have a seer even! Both light and void! However, in missing a time player, they are forever doomed to fail the session.
LANDS OF PLANETS AND PARTNERS
Now I can finally explain actual lore. My apologies for making you read about 1000 words before this.
The Hispanic-English session is glitched. There is not a planet for each person. They have to share planets with a person from the opposite dreaming moon, generating lands that are a combination of two different aspects entirely. The planetary pairings for this prime session are the same pairings used for the initial egg pairings.
I really love designing lands for Sburb AUs it's my favorite thing in the world. The first one is the Land of Acid and Alcohol, Slimecicle (Heir of Heart) and Mariana's (Maid of Doom) land. Its oceans are acid and gasoline, and then covered in bottles that are a Russian roulette of alcoholic beverages, and then Molotov cocktails! The second is the Land of Steam and Dreams, Roier (Witch of Blood) and Jaiden's (Seer of Hope) land. It's filled with buildings built in an industrial revolution style architecture, playing on how people could believe in social mobility and "making it" in that time period, while also being reliant on heavy metallic machinery! I have a lot of fun conceptualizing lands.
The session's glitches don't stop at the planetary pairings on their own however, and it continues when Luzu attempts to enter the session. The session glitches from him being BBH's client, where it refuses to match pairings if they're connected directly, as the game would be unable to generate the gates above each player's house, it would simply loop back to connecting with the same Land. Luzu ends up being paired onto Quackity's land because of this, because the Game still detects him as having a dreamself on the opposite moon, even if he technically has both.
This causes BBH and Wilbur's land to glitch, and they end up paired together (as a bit of a nod back to how BBH and Wilbur were initially intended to be paired, before admins just made a new egg for Wilbur). We'll get back to this in a bit.
Some other lands from the AH session I enjoy are
- The Land of Lush Forests and Iridescent Lakes, also known as LOLFAIL, BBH and Wilbur's land, which is a double Life player land, so the oceans are filled with gemstones and the land is covered in the most dense forest imaginable. It has the most difficult underlings spawn on it compared to any other land in the Anglo-Hispanic session.
- The Land of Frogs and Typhoons, Spreen and Fit's land, which every space player is guaranteed frogs as part of their land, combined with Spreen being a breath player, it is a constant hurricane with frogs in it. They do not work on trying to calm the storm. They just start killing the frogs. There are so many frogs. The frogs are constantly flying at anyone who enters the land. Fit's slogan is FTF. Thank you to crow qsmp-yaoi for saying this idea because it truly brings me to tears every time I think about them being hit by those frogs flying at Mach 10.
- The Land of Synapses and Static, Maxo and DanTDM's land. It's a darkened land, caused by Maxo's void, and then covered in a blanket of constant fog so thick a lighthouse can barely cut through it. The land also has mimicking noises to make familiar sounds to any player that steps on it, caused by Dan's Mind. It is an overbearingly lonely land. One where you understand what it truly feels like to be alone. One where you can lose someone as soon as you take your eyes off of them. Maxo last saw Dan on this land. No one else has seen him since.
I'm going to stop myself here, but I might come back and draw some more Land illustrations for these, haha.
Denizeggs
With the planetary partners, you might have seen this coming. Each planet in the combined session is missing a Denizen. Instead, what each player finds at the heart of the land is a little egg they need to help raise. They all find eggs at different points, however. Some people find their egg before they godtier, some find them afterward.
All of the eggs correspond to the land of their respective parents, however Luzu joins into the session too late to ever meet Tilin, second to last of the chain, she's already dead by that point.
And then the final major glitch in starting this session, when Wilbur joins as the final member of the chain, and enters, the only land open is BBH's land. Due to the nature of Sburb already knowing how things would end, it was always going to be this way, and there was no other option on who's planet he would join. The game glitches again, and detecting a second Prospit player, spawns in a new Denizen: Tallulah.
The eggs generally follow how they were in QSMP proper. Some of them die early. Some of them don't. Juanaflippa is as tragic as she is in canon. Two dads who are just bad at raising a child and it would have never worked out. Slime still kills Tilin by accident. Spreen doesn't care about Ramon, ditched him etc you know how it goes. The eggs are partially a planet quest too, so it's best if the eggs do live here.
Also in the glitches with this, there's a lack of consorts on any of the combined planets. There are a few, but not really as common as canon proper would have.
BRAZIL! 🇧🇷
The Brazil Session is a closed session between the five Brazilians. One of the requirements to complete Sburb is that you need a Space player (required to have forge in order to complete the final genesis frog & launch it into creating a new universe) and a Time player (required to keep the session in the proper timeline). The Brazilians have a time player (Pac), so they're halfway there!
There's some hiccups along the way. Mostly just Cellbit accidentally killing Felps and having to sprite him so Mike could make him a robot body to live in, but same old same old etc. Pac and Mike also kill each other by accident, but some other stuff happens there.
They still don't have the main aspect to actually continue the session, realize this, and also have a guy with one of the most conceptually powerful classpects to exist in terms of being able to glitch a game and save everyone. They manage to contact the primary session, reaching out to two grieving parents who are desperate to do anything to revive their daughter, one of whom is also a very powerful Doom player.
Brazilian Lands (brief edition)!
- Land of Vultures and Culture, Forever's land, is a Hope land based around having Forever work to help save consorts who are hiding beneath intense structures and live in very isolate communities from each other. There's also massive megafauna in the skies that are always trying to kill them.
- Land of Electronics and Experiments, Mike's land, is a pretty typical doom land, based around Chume labs, and has a constant lightning storm overhead
- Land of Dancefloors and Dollhouses, Pac's land, is a combination of a land quest he has to get through, and a typical time land. All time lands have a clockwork or a music theme, I think him having a hot pink land that's massive amounts of dollhouse rooms attached to each other he has to make it through is just a fun concept.
- Land of Cloud and Sky, Felps's world, is just a land with everything high in the sky. His whole quest is about him harnessing his ability to go with the flow to connect his consorts together. This is hard when he's sprited himself after dying upon entering due to Cellbit fucking up and accidentally killing him, and living in a robot body built by Mike. Aradia style.
- Land of Searchlight and Bone, Cellbit's world, is a giant panopticon style prison. With so many bones, both decorating the prison, and filling the prison cells. His final moment is when he gets to the office of the panopticon, and it is his quest bed. He has a whole ordeal over it.
RICARLYSON! So these guys have regular consorts and Denizens, Richarlyson spawns in the heart of Skaia, and gives the quest for the other five guys to raise him.
Pac (Page of Time) has the ability to manipulate time as he wants once he realizes his abilities. Mike (Witch of Doom) can rip a hole in the universe so big it saves all of the players and sets them smack in the middle of another session, especially a previously contacted session with the connection being a Maid of Doom. With a time player land as well, they get a scratch construct on the Land of Dancefloors and Dollhouses, setting up their ability to scratch their session and set loose a whole new universe where theirs once stood.
French
The French session has probably the most normal planets of everything going on here, what really starts their journey going awry is that they have no time player.
Antoine, being a Seer of Void, can see something is going wrong. He makes contact with people outside of their session in an attempt to restore things to balance. He goes off into the veil and contacts the horrorterrors, and sets up a connection between two Doom players who seem they both desperately need it.
While he's doing that, the rest of the French proceed to have the most normal Sburb session out of anyone. Etoiles is having a great time on his planet. Aypierre gets a genesis tadpole. Kameto has two backup lives.
French Planets (Brief Edition)
- Land of Apples and Airplanes, Baghera's land! It's probably the nicest land of anyone's. There are many jokes about how she doesn't get why everyone keeps complaining about their lands being horrible until she reaches theirs.
- Land of Sham and Soil, Antoine's land, it's a dark land with tall dirt towers that make it impossible to see where you step. You'd need to be someone who could find where you're going in the pitch dark to even survive here.
- Land of Bonds and Breakouts, Etoiles's land, is a land of a giant maze dungeon labyrinth. It's a nightmare for everyone but him. He loves it.
- Land of Bogs and Frogs, AyPierre's land, is a land with frogs in a very thick swamp. I'll be honest i Just need to cook on this one some more.
- Land of Hidden Leaves and War, Kameto's land, is a Naruto joke.
POMME! Is like Richas she's in the middle of Skaia. An easter egg if you will.
The French session is brought into the primary session when Antoine manages to contact with everyone else fully, rather than quietly watch from the outside. Etoiles and Baghera lose their original selves, and are their dreamselves when the universes collide in, and were unable to godtier, due to not knowing about the quest slabs.
GODTIERING! & the rest of the chronological story
THIS is the order of the godtiers from the beginning of the Spanish-English session. Anyone in the other sessions who godtier before their universe collide event has a red numeral to keep them distinct. I feel pretty strongly almost everyone would godtier here, they're all characters based on gamers. Sburb au works exceptionally well when you know everyone's gaming style.
Also, yeah I have notes listed on each godtier order for how each person dies. Like it's that detailed atp.
Spreen has the highest kill count out of everyone on purpose. I think he'd be down to cut his friends down knowing they'd be revived immortal afterward. As well as, the federation is Prospit in this scenario, they want everyone to godtier. I think him playing to what they want out of him feels his style. Anyway, he sprites his own dreamself due to ElQuackity messing with timeloops. To make his living player self trust him, Spreensprite convinces him to godtier Roier first. It is himself he's talking to, after all. Roier becomes the first godtier in any universe, and not out of his own volition. After seeing it really did work with Roier, Spreen godtiers himself. He gets li'l bear ears ala Jade getting doggy ears with her dreamself sprited, he threw in a Rubius cubito to his kernelsprite first. I like the bear ears I'm biased .3. q!Spreen being really fun in a Sburb concept is why I got hooked on this au after all.
After the first lore is repeated, BBH godtiers himself by decapitating himself with a sendificator to fuck with Foolish. He's kinda bitter about getting beige clothes. He befriends the midnight crew at least. This is before he has Dapper. He finds out about godtiering from Roier by accident and then is like. Oh I have the BEST idea.
Vegetta is killed by Spreen by request, wanting to be stronger to protect Leo, and then Spreen godtiers Missa in order to use his time powers on Derse to throw his dreamself at the kernelsprite, locking the time loop. Anyway, Missa is essentially locked in a tower on Derse's moon after this, now permanently in his Dreamself's body, who hadn't awoken prior. Fit realizes people are walking around in weird clothes, hears about it vaguely from BBH, sends a text to Spreen who'd been ghosting him, and goes like. Hey man. Wanna kill me? And gets his first reply in months.
Phil is attacked by an overpowered monster and almost dies, and Missa manages to get the message to Fit that this is happening through time shenanigans, and Fit manages to get him to his questbed before he fully dies and loses his dreamself. Phil is not happy about this and could not be angrier. He doesn't blame Fit though it's like a self anger thing.
THE BRAZILIAN CASCADE HAPPENS! PEOPLE DIE. By which I mean Slimecicle and Mariana work together to try to help the Brazilians into the session in a bid at saving Juanaflippa, hoping one of them have the ability to revive her. Slimecicle is murdered in the crypts of Prospit by Quackity in a duel, where he cuts off Quackity's arm in exchange for Quackity cutting down his life. Truly one of those luck moments where Charlie dies on his questslab. Mariana is murdered at the same time by Spreen, who is now fully working under orders from the Federation.
Pre-cascade, Pac and Mike both godtier, because they stumble into a stable timeloop, by Mike accidentally glitching Pac's questslab into throwing it at him and killing him. He godtiers with this. Now, as a fully godtiered page of time, they make it to Mike's questbed, and godtier!Mike nudges Pac's slab at Past!Mike to pick up and throw when fucking around with powers.
Felps godtiers in the cascade along with Mariana and Slimecicle, they leave behind Derse and its moon, and they both get destroyed. Where his body sleeping on the quest slab godtiers. Aradia style. Except... as a Maid of Breath, his robot sprite body doesn't explode. He just sort of... exists in both. When one falls asleep the other wakes up. The rest of the Brazilian session just assumes the Cascade fucked with his robot body's energy sources. He kind of just figures each side is a weird dream he keeps having.
Cellbit is staunchly anti-godtier, while Forever wants someone he trusts to godtier him. Cellbit refuses to godtier Forever, and causes a major fight between them. Then Spreen murders Cellbit into his godtier under orders from the Federation, which is preceded by a long Scooby-doo-esque chase, where BBH sees them both, and decides to follow. BBH is a fully godtiered Knight of Life here, he has resurrection powers for other players, and Spreen is functionally immortal as well. BBH 100% catches up to him after he kills Cellbit, and proceeds to put Spreen in a torment nexus of dying and undeath. Thus ends the Killing Spree(n).
AND THEN THE FRENCH CASCADE HAPPENS! The final session connects, and Baghera sacrifices herself to make it happen. After they make it in, they learn about Quest slabs, and there's a whole thing with Etoiles dramatically getting her to her questslab before she fully dies. Etoiles then proceeds to go kill himself on the questslab immediately after. Felps is also hanging out with the French, they found him hanging out in the void and take him with them. They lose Kameto in the void however, nobody's really sure where he went.
Pre-French Cascade, Antoine is the only French player to godtier, and no one will explain how it happened. It seems like no one really knows, but Etoiles keeps saying more fantastical descriptions every time someone asks. He's never taken his seer hood off of his face.
Back in the order of the godtiers, Forever befriends Baghera, and eventually her and Etoiles and Cellbit help him godtier. It's a whole event. Richas is having a blast.
Bobby dies, and Jaiden decides to godtier in order to get into the Federation's good graces, as well as out of guilt of feeling that if she were stronger and godtiered she could have saved him. Roier godtiers her.
AyPierre is godtiered in a tragic accident with one of his many machines. Etoiles helps pull him to his quest bed. He's a Thief of Space he has fun with it.
Foolish is the second to last person to godtier, and he is godtiered by Pomme by accident. He wanted his godtier to be as cool as possible, and somehow managed to not godtier by this point. It's just very him. He's down with the page pants.
Quackity is the final member to godtier. BBH kills ElQ at one end of the universe with the aid of Maximus. Slimecicle kills the regular QQ in one final duel.
At the end of the universe, the only people left alive and able to contact the rest of the sessions to never godtier are Wilbur and Maxo.
DanTDM disappears on the Land of Synapses and Static, never to be seen again, along with Turnip following soon after.
Luzu finds a glitch and is absorbed by it not long after he enters.
Nobody is really sure if Kameto godtiered or not.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
We're currently working on figuring out sprites for everyone, so hey! I might come back and add an update on that, but this post is so long my computer is lagging. I have a gaming laptop. It shouldn't be doing that. Here's some stuff on the sprites we do have + some misc notes.
Cellbit's flashlightkind is like how Kanaya's lipstick works. It's a chainsaw.
Spreen has Spreensprite, BBH has Skeppysprite, Missa has a sprite that is a mysterious skull sprited twice called Skullskullsprite, and Roier has his dog with a spiderman called Dogmansprite, and Jaiden has Arisprite, who's Miku & Ari combined :D (thanks icarus!)
It is 5 am as I finish typing this and queue it. I think I started typing this at 5 pm yesterday. Feel free to comment any thoughts you have or play around in this au! Also feel free to @ me if you do, either on my main mcyt blog (@etoilesbienne), or here!
qsmpstuck tag on my art blog / qsmpstuck tag on my regular mcyt talk blog
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Giving Them the Moment: How Our Flag Means Death and it's Portrayal of Black Men is the Most Important Thing on Television Right Now
Note: written April 20, 2022
Media is an incredibly distinct way of communicating. It has a wide reach, and each person has their own interpretation of what they see. That’s the beauty of the medium as a whole. However, there are often downsides, especially when it pertains to the West. In the US in particular, there is a trend within popular media to lean towards propagandization. Whether it’s the idea that communism and socialism are products of the ‘Evil East’ or the lingering effects of the Motion Picture Production Code - also known as the Hays Code, the media monopolies have a firm grasp on what we as a society watch and enjoy.
When you begin to play close attention to how the media portrays Black men, this becomes abundantly clear.
It is a rare thing when we see Black men whose characters aren’t portrayed as being the object nor the perpetrators of violence. In fact, only one mainstream popular show comes to mind: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But even then, the given circumstances of Fresh Prince revolve around Will’s escape from the violence of the ‘urban’ inner city. This vilification of Black men dates back to the 1910s with D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, and continued into the 1930s, where Black people were often personified as the monsters, representing the ‘exciticism’ of the world beyond the West. It is the ‘exoticism’ that has played a huge part in the dehumanization of Black men as a whole. But as a Black Queer person watching Our Flag Means Death, it is breaking that mold in an incredibly important way.
The Black men in the show are allowed to have fun.
This show is breaking barriers left and right. Of the major recurring cast of 15, over half of them are people of color. It’s overt and unflinching portrayal of Queerness when so many of its older viewers - myself included - have lived through the Bury Your Gays and Dead Lesbians tropes time and time again is overwhelmingly refreshing. Nearly all characters are Queer until proven straight and represent all parts under the umbrella, including Leslie Jones’ polyamorous pirate queen and Vico Ortiz - a non-binary actor - playing a non-binary character.
But in a world where the narratives of Black men are so often framed around violence and brutality, the Black crewmates of the Queen Anne’s Revenge - Frenchie, Oluwande, and Roach - are allowed to be funny and vulnerable. Each one of them is starkly different from the other with identifiable characteristics that allow the audience to humanize them. The trio quickly became my favorites among the crew, with Roach being the stand-out amongst them. Samba Schutte’s often deadpan delivery never fails to draw a laugh from me, in particular the assertion that “meat is meat”. Frenchie, played by Joel Fry, is the quickest on the draw where his intellect is concerned, being posited in the show’s fifth episode as having had a hand in inventing the pyramid scheme while spouting the wildest of conspiracy theories and being afraid of cats (they’re witches, they steal your breath, and have knives in their feet, you know). The softness and constant vulnerability of Samson Kayo’s Oluwande may be one of the most important aspects of the show, as it establishes him as a reliable and trustworthy confidante to not just Jim, but to Rhys Darby’s Stede Bonnet as well.
They exist in their own separate spheres on the ship, going about their own separate business completely unbothered. While it is implied they lead violent lives as pirates, this violence isn’t used to define them as characters. In fact, Oluwande stated that both he and Jim engaged in piracy because they “had no choice”. The brief mention we get of Frenchie’s backstory implies that he lives a life of servitude, though whether that was as an enslaved person or a freed Black domestic worker is not mentioned. While there is little known about Roach so far, it is implied that his culinary skills are far beyond the levels of what is needed aboard a pirate ship.
The friendships and relationships they form within the crew aren’t built on violence either, but on open and honest communication. Most notably, the friendship of Frenchie and Wee John Feeny, played by Kristian Nairn. Fry and Nairn are an impeccable comic duo when their characters become ‘room people’, and the scene where they begin to design their new space is a personal highlight of the episode. Oluwande and Jim’s romance - played to perfection by Kayo and Ortiz - is one that revolves around both characters being almost devastatingly open with each other. Both actors play the emotional vulnerability of the characters well, and it is important to emphasize that it is Kayo’s Oluwande that moves to meet Jim where they are.
While the show allows all its men to show varying levels of emotional vulnerability - an exception being offered to the emotionally constipated Izzy Hands, played by Con O’Neill - there is something so special about seeing that luxury afforded to Black men. This show has, in just ten episodes, has become a game changer for the television industry. It has proved that a show with explicitly Queer characters can become a massive sleeper hit, and that sometimes the best kind of historical show is one that is historical fiction. But it has also proved that you can create a narrative with Black men that doesn’t include their stories being framed in violence or brutality, that they can be funny, charming, witty, vulnerable, intelligent, complex characters with their own narratives that serve a purpose outside of a device of exoticism. It is this rare thing that makes these characters, and indeed the show as a whole, so important to its viewers.
We deserve more vulnerability, more humor, and more humanizing content from these three men, and this show is one that is truly deserving of a glorious second season.
Sources:
Donaldson, Leigh. “When the media misrepresents Black men, the effects are felt in the real world.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/12/media-misrepresents-black-men-effects-felt-real-world.
Kumah-Abiwu, Felix. “Media Gatekeeping and Portrayal of Black Men in America.”
Opportunity Agenda. “Media Portrayals and Black Male Outcomes.”
https://www.opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/media-representation-impact-black-men/media-portrayals.
Our Flag Means Death, (2022-). HBO Max.
#not horror but its relevant#our flag means death#ofmd#ofmd s2#roach#frenchie#oluwande boodhari#david jenkins#black men in media#let black men be silly in things!!!!!!#our flag means death season 2
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Now I am really really curious and want to know more about your theory of C&C and M&M not being close anymore in Beleriand and why you don't buy their super duper close relationship. I noticed that as well as the fact that C&C are the feanorians often linked not just to Aredhel but to the three Arafinweans, especially Orodreth and Angrod who in the many versions are actually close to C&C which honestly is pretty interesting and such cool thing.
oooh yeah sure, I'll talk about this! This is more contrarian headcanon-not-contradicted-by-canon than anything I came to organically, but it's now become my preferred way of thinking about them.
Anyway, first, I will clarify that my theory is not Celegorm & Curufin and Maedhros & Maglor not being close in Beleriand; it is that they were NEVER close, even in Aman. We know from the story that Fëanor's sons were fiercely devoted to him, but it's never said that they were especially close with each other. And with a father who was likely demanding, played clear favorites, and had piles of charisma, I could easily see the brothers' relationships being marked by jealousy and simmering resentment, but not in an 'every brother for himself' way. It seems M&M have a strong relationship and C&C do too. Caranthir is the odd one out where it seems like none of his brothers are too attached, and honestly there's so little about Amras & Amrod but from what's there they form another obvious pair. But yeah, C&C definitely have a lot connections to the rest of the family! And it seems like those friendships were created before the Darkening and the Flight, and then renewed after Maedhros' rescue.
After Fëanor's death, Maedhros leads his brothers, but here I don't think that's because of any especial familial love or 'big brother Maedhros protective power uwu', and more because as Princes of the Noldor descended from Fëanor they are a *political* unit.
Sidebar: I think the 'family' part of the family politics of the House of Finwë is super overemphasized and the 'politics' part languishes. Like, Maedhros' brothers owe some sort of political allegiance to him (I'd say fealty... but I feel like someone with more historical knowledge will jump out of the woodwork and 'well ackshually' me) -- they are not a normal modern family!!
Now, I think the common fandom interpretation of suffocatingly close and devoted sons of Fëanor is a reasonable conclusion to reach from reading 'Of the Return of the Noldor' and I don't think my 'brothers at odds' theory is more canon; it's more that I don't think close and devoted take is the only reasonable conclusion. I have in fact seen people discard an obvious interpretation of events off hand because of the fact that all of the sons of Fëanor were soooo obviously devoted to each other, any time they didn't seek each other out there must be *something* preventing them from joining their brothers.
I really must disagree -- while C&C seem very close as do M&M, I think it's just as likely that when they're all together they're an acrimonious bitter mess, and that Maedhros staked out lands for them out east not just to keep the peace with Fingolfin & Finrod, but also to reduce fighting between his brothers. Also, them being an acrimonious bitter mess together does not mean they aren't charming, fun even, apart. Finrod is friends with all three pairs (sorry Caranthir); there's the other aforementioned C&C Arafinwean friendships and Aredhel friendship; Maedhros is friends with Fingolfin and Fingon. They even form alliances with non-elves apart, with Curufin befriending some dwarvish groups independently, and different brothers forming different mannish alliances. And I haven't even mentioned Amrod & Amras and the green elves. This all points to the brothers being reasonable, personable people when separated, capable of forming friendships and political alliances both, and perhaps to some degree hating each other's guts when together.
Food for thought! I welcome any and all enjoyers of my 'the sons of Fëanor would rather not be in a room together ever again' theory.
#they hate each other your honor#and C&C would rather hang out with their many friends than their other brothers#which tbh is very normal#and doesn't mean they hate each other#I just think it's more fun if they dislike each other#maedhros#curufin#celegorm#sons of feanor#eh fine I'll tag them all#maglor#caranthir#amros#amrod
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Henry's Dog David, and How RWRB (the Book and the Movie) Explore the Meaning of His Name.
(GIF by @andysapril)
CW: Mentions of deaths, murder attempts, mostly from Bible verses.
An Easter Egg from the book that the film managed to incorporate in an entirely different context.
Henry naming his dog David is one of the things Alex comments on both in the film and the book. He finds the name particularly odd for a pet, and when Henry tells him later that the inspiration was David Bowie, Alex remarks that he could have just used the surname instead.
This is basically just me overthinking the way the book and the film added "David and Jonathan" to two totally different scenes haha.
David Bowie
youtube
There has been a lot of debate over Bowie's sexuality since the 70s, and possibly conflicting statements from Bowie himself over the decades, but he did leave quite an impact on queer people in his time (ref: this article). Henry both in the book and in the film has often turned to literature and art for inspiration, and solace, when it came to exploring his own identity as a gay man. All kinds of historical queer identities - both debated and confirmed - show up in the tapestry of people and ideas that have influenced Henry's own thoughts and ideas (Alex's too). So it definitely makes sense that he would name his beloved pet dog after one of those inspirations.
(notably, during Henry's dramatic entrance when Alex comes down to the UK for damage control, the song playing is Bowie's "Up the Hill Backwards". You also see him choose a Queen song for karaoke, which makes me want to really headcanon him as a 70s prog rock fan 😄)
David and Jonathan
In the book, Alex goes over the details of Henry's fact sheet with Nora and his sister June. When he mentions the name of Henry's dog, he claims his dislike for the name is because it sounds more like a "tax attorney" than a beloved pet (Ch 2).
In the film, it's his SS detail Amy who quizzes him. She responds to his quip about Henry's choice of name for a pet by telling him what she's named her own dog. It's a tiny, fun detail with no lasting importance in the film, but I feel it does work within the larger framework of how the film incorporates queer readings and figures too.
I see this as a reference to a popular reading of the Hebrew/Biblical story of David and Jonathan from the 2 books of Samuel. David was a shepherd anointed by the prophet Samuel (through orders from God), to succeed King Saul, and Jonathan was Saul's son who was extremely devoted to David and even saved him from his father's wrath. They were known to have made a covenant to each other soon after they met, and the first Book of Samuel gives us a picture of an immensely close bond between the two:
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18, 1-4)
Interpretations of their relationship have ranged from close friendship to a romantic relationship, and there have been many, many queer readings on this pair.
In Casey McQuiston's RWRB too, Alex references both a saying from the Book of Proverbs (24:13), and the story of David and Jonathan in the same paragraph. This is in Ch 10, when Henry takes Alex to the V&A museum. This particular sequence is in the inner chamber of the museum, shortly after the couple dance to Elton John's "Your Song".
He compares himself and Henry to "a lost David and Jonathan", and it's pretty obvious why when you think of their devotion, and the tragic end of the relationship of the latter. Like Jonathan, Henry is a prince utterly devoted to one man, and sure that his family too will be against their bond. Like David, Alex is an outsider who the royal family may view as a threat to their stability, and therefore must be kept away. David's love for Jonathan is immense: he makes the covenant with Saul's son soon after they meet, and when he mourns Jonathan's death, he says "Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women." (2 Samuel 1:26).
This amazing post from @elipheleh explores this metaphor more in detail (as well as St. Chiara, and a quote from Oscar Wilde, who is referenced both in the book and the film as a writer Henry is fond of). It also speaks about the verse from the Book of Proverbs that Alex remembers, partly in Spanish, partly in English - Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. (Proverbs 24:13-14)
(Jonathan in 1 Samuel also has his own reference to honey - there is a story that chronicles a tense moment between Jonathan and his father, King Saul, due to Jonathan eating wild honey on a day when the troops were bound by an oath to fast (he had not heard the oath himself). He almost faces death by Saul's hand for breaking the oath the latter had made, but is saved by the other people in the troops. (1 Samuel 14: 24-46). I've seen different ways of this passage being interpreted - as either Jonathan being judged for disobeying an oath even though he was not around when it was announced, or Saul being viewed as foolish for making such an oath in the first place. The main point is, Saul is ready to kill his son for breaching a certain protocol, and it is the people who save Jonathan.
Similarly IMO, Henry is prepared to live his whole life in the closet viewing his sexuality as something that would bring shame to his family, but eventually recognizes that he has support. Both within his family (in the form of his mother Catherine and his sister Bea), and in the public eye)
At this point in their lives, Alex and Henry see very little hope that things will get better soon enough for them to unite. It is more than likely that - in their minds - this one romantic visit will be their last for a long, long time. Of course David and Jonathan - who parted ways in the hope of being reunited after the battle with Jonathan's father, and whose friendship/love met a tragic end - would be considered a fitting parallel for the situation Alex and Henry find themselves in.
The book has the space and scope to explore many, many images and symbols that could fit Alex and Henry. Whether it's in the letters they send each other, the references Alex learns more about as he figures out his sexuality. The book can - at the V&A museum - describe the statues the two men linger at in loving detail, making us more aware how poignant their temporary separation will be and how bittersweet this last dance is.
The movie's focus is different - the V&A scene is a (presumably) final, deeply intimate moment that lets Alex see for real the weight of his role in Henry's environment, and how little he expects to see his dreams come true. It also lets Henry see how determined Alex is to make his every dream a reality.
Most moments of highlighting queer literature or history are pocketed away in smaller sequences in the film, as small references and Easter eggs (eg. the books they recommend each other), as the film focuses more on the relationship and it's effects both on the men and the world around them. The V&A is more a visual backdrop for that bittersweet last moment where the two can find equal ground and truly understand each other. I think mentioning the names of the statues would take away from that.
The movie didn't need to include David and Jonathan. Why is why I'm truly, truly grateful that they still did. Even as a tiny, cute Easter egg that is supposed to be banter about weirdly specific pet-naming protocol 💖
#Youtube#Spotify#rwrbmovie#red white and royal blue#alex claremont diaz#henry fox#henry george edward james hanover stuart fox#rwrb movie#henry fox mountchristen windsor#firstprince#taylor zakhar perez#alex x henry#nicholas galitzine#rwrb thoughts
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Something that really annoys the fuck out of me, is that it takes Thor and Hela being mistreated by Odin for people to believe that Loki was abused (and then, like that anon, "Loki doesn't have a right to resent poor abused Thor, bleh bleh"). Everyone kept insisting it was something "horny fangirls made up" for the longest time and that he was "crying fake tears" or being a "spoiled ungrateful brat".
I've seen too many people defend Odin's treatment of Loki. And it ignores the inherent power imbalance between a foundling from another realm that Odin pillaged and a biological son. Yet people insist Loki's just making shit up in Thor 1.
I think that there's been a lot more discussion over recent years about abuse so people are more aware of how to spot it which definitely helps, but regardless It is extremely irritating that it takes Hela and Thor also being victims before people are suddenly jumping on the train. i don't know. it's just weird. The way MCU is written leaves it very ambiguous about Loki and Thor's past because you CAN interpret it as Odin at best being distant, emotionally neglectful, their family a dysfunctional mess, and then go all the way to the other end of the spectrum where it's different types of abuse (emotional neglect IS still abuse) like emotional or physical. Not that one is worse than the other (it is not a competition. Abuse is never a competition. You don't "win" the fight if you got hit) it's just different.
I don't know. When I look at Thor 1, honestly I can see an argument for Odin struggling to reach out to his kids and him and Frigga just failing them instead of maliciously failing them. I once read an amazing fic where Odin finds Loki in the bifrost instead of Thor and he's beyond distressed that things got this point. I love reading these fics! I love the fics where Odin is trying to be a good father. I love him being able to repair his relationship and form a healthy bond with his kids. It's just... not really, canon?
I just think there's so many ways to look at what Odin and Frigga did, especially when it comes down to Loki, but one thing that irritates me the most is that these two defenses are thrown around ALL the time when it comes to Odin and Frigga being good parents to him and they're not even true:
1 - "we don't know that Loki was kidnapped vs abandoned. I know there's a part of the deleted script of Thor 1 where Laufey says Loki was the abandoned runt (or something to that effect), but it wasn't filmed and it was cut for a reason."
2 - "We don't know if Frigga and Odin made any effort into trying to change Asgard's views on Jotuns and they were unsuccessful, or if they just didn't care. We don't understand enough about Asgard's political system or educational system to say one way or the other."
3 - "Odin said that he didn't intend to use Loki to be the king of Jotunheim anymore."
And like okay! I've seen this argued so many times, but when you think about it more, you realize that it doesn't matter. Odin and Frigga had a responsibility to let Loki know Jotuns weren't monsters. They didn't. We know that. The first thing Loki describes Jotuns as is "monsters." he sees them as expendable animals that can be killed to stop Thor's coronation. in 95% of canon (I am looking at you eyeball scene), Loki doesn't kill for fun. He sees it as a necessity. So the fact that he looked at the Jotuns and didn't even think twice about leading them to their deaths just showcases how little he thinks about their lives.
The inherit "othering" of the Jotuns is a massive, massive racism problem that, even IF odin and frigga couldn't fix the educational system, they had a duty to explain to Loki that he wasn't a monster and to love himself for his true identity, even if they never intended to tell him. They failed him immensely in that regard.
And on the first thing - regardless of whether or not Loki was abandoned or kidnapped, Loki's first thought upon hearing that was not "i'm the prince of a different kingdom" it was "Odin took me for political purposes" and he was right.
And even IF odin was telling the truth and he dismissed those plans because he loved Loki more than his initial ambitions with him, why did he keep lying about it? And then we circle back to the second point:
look at me.
look at me.
Loki wasn't different. He wasn't. Loki as a Jotun wouldn't have been different from the Asgardians except visually and maybe some minor biological things, and that shouldn't have mattered. Because your visual appearance SHOULD NEVER be more important than who you are inside. The body is always a vessel for the brain.
Did they not tell him so he wouldn't have to face the racism? Because that's not a healthy way to deal with it and it was inevitable that he would learn eventually and they didn't prepare him to deal with that. They should have told him and then helped him build up his self-confidence to the point that MOST of the racist things wouldn't have bothered him, or he had someone to talk to when they did. If they gave Loki a support system for dealing with this rather than just trying to isolate it, Loki would have a much better viewpoint on himself.
anyway, sorry. my point with this long rant is that I believe loki. I believe when he said he was abused and hurt, regardless of whatever circles people can walk in that "justify" everything that Odin and Frigga did because at the end of the day Loki was still traumatized and hurt by what happened and he has the right to say that, heal, and move on. If Odin and Frigga want to change and repair their relationship with him into something healthy - amazing, good for them.
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Do you think that Rey's story (excluding episode 9 'cause that was a shitshow) could be interpreted as a Cinderella/Ash girl story?
I hope you realize asking me this is like throwing chum to a shark 😈. But the short answer is yes, to a point.
The long answer is more complicated, so to begin with, let's consult the Cinderella bible:
According to the Aarne Thompson Uther Index, there are five primary motifs to a Cinderella tale:
Persecuted heroine, usually by family
Help or helper, usually magic
Meeting the prince, usually with true identity disguised
Identification or penetration of disguise, usually by means of an object
Marriage to the prince
Rey is abandoned by her family, which is a form of persecution, and harassed by the inhabitants of Jakku like Unkar Plutt. Thus she clearly fulfills the first item.
As for meeting a helper, there are several for her, including Han Solo, Maz, Luke, and Leia. Any or all of these may be considered fairy godparents in the way that they offer her wisdom and material help. Further, except for Maz, they all die in the course of the story, which is consistent with many Cinderella tales in which the helper dies and their bones continue to offer wisdom and comfort to the heroine.
Next, meeting the prince. I mean
To the extent that Rey is "in disguise' here, it would be the extent of her force powers, her destiny as Ben Solo's dyad mate, and her role as the heir apparent to the Jedi (chosen by the Force to wield the legacy saber), all of which are obscured from Kylo Ren when he discovers her in the forest. Further, she is grimy and covered in desert sand, similar to how Cinderella is smeared with ashes that hide her true beauty.
So now an object penetrates the disguise. This is obviously the Skywalker lightsaber, which reveals Rey to be everything listed above, especially when she calls it to her on Starkiller Base, and again when she wields it on Ahch-to.
And lastly, marriage to the prince. As many others have pointed out over the years, Rey and Ben have almost too many symbolic marriages to count in the course of the sequel trilogy. They're extremely married, the Force said so.
BUT WAIT! Go back and look at that list again. Who ELSE fits all those criteria?
It's our boy! Consider:
He is indeed persecuted by family, most notably when Luke momentarily considers killing him.
Ben's helpers are both dark and light, as Snoke/Palpatine guide him in the dark while Luke guides him in the light (poorly). But note again what I said above about the bones of the mentor continuing to offer guidance and comfort after their death. Who should appear at Ben's lowest hour but his departed father, Han Solo? With a message of love, acceptance, and encouragement, Han's memory (because in fairy tales, bones contain memory) encourages Ben to at last cast off his beastly skin and become who he always was.
Next, meeting the prince/ss in disguise. He's wearing a literal mask when he meets Rey, so yeah.
An object penetrates the disguise? Rey slashed his face with the legacy saber, thus symbolically peeling away his mask. And I've argued before that the stabbing in TROS (which I still HATE, btw) is another cutting or burning away of the beastly skin.
And lastly, marriage to the prince/ss. As previously stated, that happened. Many times.
So yes, the Sequel Trilogy can definitely be considered a Cinderella story, with but one glaring issue: Cinderella's husband usually doesn't die at the end. But that's another topic that's been done to death, so let's all just read some more fanfic and forget about it. 👑 Thank you for the ask, this was fun!
#reylo#reylo meta#star wars#star wars meta#sw meta#star wars sequel trilogy#sequel trilogy#sequel trilogy meta#sw sequels#rey x ben#rey of jakku#ben solo#kylo ren#cinderella#aschenputtel#fairy tale#fairy tale meta#folktales#folktale types#folktale motifs#atu 510#aarne thompson uther#han solo#luke skywalker#leia organa#maz kanata#fairy godmother#my meta
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Judit Posting: A Guide to Revolutionary Spy Judit
Okay so this is a meme AU that has a fun connection to Revolutionary Girl Utena, Death Note, and could potentially be an interesting way to explore Judit’s gender and communist leanings.
Now this crack theory places a LOT of importance on names, as many crack theories do. In this case, it’s an interpretation of Judit as inspired by the Biblical Judith, who was “the widow who charmed her way into an enemy general's tent and decapitated them, saving her country.”
@jeanbinary riffed on this concept and landed on the meme idea of Judit infiltrating the RCM for the express purpose of killing Ptolemy Pryce for the side of the revolutionary communards aka for Revachol. I mean, she’s pretty squarely on the Communists’ side, and she even says as much to Harry.
"Harry's our man, he'll pull through -- and when he does, he'll side with Revachol." "Understood." Gottlieb returns to the list. "Minot?" "Of course."
YOU - "Are you by any chance..." (Lean in real close.) "*working class*?"
HORSE-FACED WOMAN - "Well... raising two children and half a husband on a patrol officer's wage. Yes, I guess I am working class."
YOU - "Do you want to rise up and tear down the entire fucking system with me?"
HORSE-FACED WOMAN - "No." She sighs. "Okay. Sort of. But not with you. Like you are now. Don't take this the wrong way..."
Now, we of course know that Pryce is planning for his own revolution, aka Le Retour, but the RCM is considered under the thumb/authority/whims of the Moralintern. So although it may seem like Pryce and Judit should be on the same side, it makes sense that there could be some disconnect or mistrust between Pryce and the other revolutionaries, hence a spy. (Though I’m not quite clear what demographic this separate cell of revolutionaries Judit is working for could be made up of).
Now the fun/hook of this AU would be the Death Note-esque political mind games of 4D chess between Revolutionary Spy Judit and (another crack theory) Moralintern Spy Trant Heidelstam. Imagine them duking it out over the heart of the RCM and the meaning of Justice in the break room while Jean and Harry are too busy bickering to care or notice. (There’s more here if you want to laugh).
She’s winning, in my heart. She’s got the whole precinct wrapped around her finger with her mediating and level headed manner, fooling even the player about her true intentions.
With Death Note out of the way, what about Revolutionary Girl Utena? Well this connection is another tenuous name connection, where Revolutionary Spy Judit sounds like Revolutionary Girl Utena. And Girl Child Communism and Girl Child Revolution.
But I also think the themes and narratives of Utena grafts beautifully onto Disco Elysium and Judit Minot.
For one, Utena as a character is all about a woman subverting her role as a “Princess” (powerless woman, needs protection, but giving power to who owns her through marriage) in favor of becoming a “Prince” (Heroic man who saves princesses). She’s a tomboy fighting amongst men.
Utena intentionally highlights the dissonance between being a woman and trying to act like a prince — namely that, even though you yourself are subverting the system by gaining power as a woman, you’re still doing so by being complicit to a system that defines women as powerless. It’s a double whammy: You can never be a “true” prince because he is defined as a man. And “Prince” itself as a concept is fundamentally oppressive and should not be striven towards.
Replace Utena with Judit and “Prince” with “Cop,” and the parallels jump out.
Does Judit struggle with the dissonance between her gender and her role as a cop the way Utena does with her role as a prince? Embodying the roles of masculine heroes that don't actually protect women? Why did she choose to become one? Was it girlboss feminism (becoming a prince)? A yearning to uphold the ideals cops represent in spite of the ways they fail (becoming heroic)? Or does she never struggle with that baggage due to her nature as a spy disloyal to the RCM? In that case, her baggage could then lie in the question: Does the end justify the means?
Which brings me to another parallel: The Pale and the concept of “revolution” in Utena.
Now in Utena’s English speaking analysis circles, many have fully taken advantage of the second definition of “revolution” — a return to the beginning position! A cycle.
In the world of Utena, Ohtori Academy is repeating endlessly in a time loop, trapping the future of the students in the past, with many of the ‘students’ actually being the echoes of past students long gone (as in dead). Never to grow up.
Much like the way the Pale is an apocalyptic blending of the past and future. Or “After the world, the pale -- after the pale, the world again.”
Thus, we must connect Judit to the Pale! Does Judit view the world with the nihilism that dooms it to destruction and repetition? To the Pale? If she is not torn up about gender and cophood, maybe then her true struggle will be imagining the world after the Revolution and how'd she'd fit into it, aka the nihilism of the Pale.
But it’s more than that, it’s wondering if the ends of successfully implementing a Revolution will justify the means? Of infiltrating and decapitating Pryce and Harry and Jean or the others?
Which brings me to another piece of Judit Lore: Joseph Mills.
Joseph Mills was Judit’s old partner, who you can discover by reading the MURDER IN THE HOOKAH PARLOR case. And he was an idiot and a misogynist.
“No, he was awful. Awful sense of humour too. The worst jokes you've ever heard. Really rapey.”
The case file is even a misnomer—there was no murder being investigated! Mills spent months investigating a ‘murder’ that PreAmnesia!Harry identifies as a dumb accident in less than a minute.
However, it’s what happened to Mills that’s relevant to Revolutionary Spy Judit.
“Beaten to death by a throng of Villalobos gang-members when him and his partner J. M. (only initials mentioned) answered a call one night. It's a sad story and it isn't really represented in *your* case files. Stop stalling and get to the MURDER AT THE HOOKAH PARLOUR.”
So, in canon, it’s implied that Judit was forced to watch her partner get beaten to death by gangsters, with @geeneelee (who I grabbed this backstory from) speculating that the reason she joined the shitty 41st Precinct 2 months ago is because past Harry actually helped her with the fallout of the case. Highlighted by her quiet support of Harry after his disastrous call to the precinct:
"We must help him. Minot looks down at her neatly polished black shoes. There is a quiet firmness to her voice when she speaks.”
"I just know we can't give up on him when he's at his weakest. He wouldn't..."
Imagine if, however, the death of her partner was not something poor Judit witnessed, but rather something she helped orchestrate as a revolutionary spy? Hence her leaving her precinct for her savior’s precinct — it shakes the trail of suspicion if she's murdering too many partners by moving across precincts with a plausible move. The RCM is not especially well known for communicating or cooperating across precincts.
Just imagine it — the sick pleasure/relief she must have felt at seeing her misogynist coworker get what was coming to him. Mixed with the shame/horror of feeling pleasure at seeing a man get beaten to death.
Do the ends justify these means? Maybe it doesn’t, for Judit.
Maybe all it does is worsen her self-destructiveness, worsen the doomed nihilism she feels, contributing contributing to the Pale. Even as she fights for the girl child communism, she will struggle to see herself in the 'after' of the revolution she's fighting for because the revolution is asking her to bloody her hands in its name. Would she deserve salvation?
I mean she's literally forced to be a cop for the good of the cause. ACAB. The hypocrisy of killing cops while being one. Do the ends justify the means?
I think it would complicate things for Judit even more if old Harry really did manage to successfully comfort her after her murder setup (which to Harry looked like grief over a partner, but to her was the inner turmoil of an assassin). It wasn’t just a good excuse to transfer to the 41st, she genuinely was touched by Double Yefreitor Harry Du Bois.
Imagine doing it all over again to the 41st Precinct, stabbing the person who comforted you in your time of need in the back.
Anyways, this AU has a happy ending. Pryce is genuinely working towards Le Retour and is NOT loyal to the Moralintern, so as long as Harry can convince her/the revolutionaries that they’re on the same side, she won’t have to bring out the “mysterious accident” card. This also recontextualizes all of Judit’s more supportive comments about Harry.
"I just know we can't give up on him when he's at his weakest. He wouldn't…”
“You haven't been drinking, she thinks. So maybe this time...”
YOU - "Do you want to rise up and tear down the entire fucking system with me?"
HORSE-FACED WOMAN - "No." She sighs. "Okay. Sort of. But not with you. Like you are now. Don't take this the wrong way..."
She’s giving him the benefit of the doubt. She’s trying to look for proof, any proof, that Harry’s on their side, that he’s good or getting better, so she won’t have to justify his murder to herself.
…
Anyways, I think Judit meeting Ulixes in this AU would be hilarious.
#revolutionary girl utena#judit minot#disco elysium#the pale#metas#my thoughts#de#she’s giving both Utena AND Anthy#anthy’s inability to hope for more leading her to hide behind a facade#and Utena’s hero/prince complex
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Asriel Dreemurr is a Prince of Doom ((bangs pots and pans))
[ALT: he seems like he'd be a prince of doom since princes usually act like their opposite aspect AND he acts like a life player methinks]
via @ghostzdrawz
in a reblog for this post: x
putting this as a separate post because it got so long that i couldn't simply put it below your reblog ^^'
yes that is exactly my classpect for asriel!!
( just as a sidenote, I find it very fun that, given my track record of assigning UTDR characters classpects, when a character is a Prince, they are also literally a prince in canon, like Ralsei, and now Asriel).
Asriel Dreemurr // Prince of Doom
You (very correctly!) stated Princes ghost their opposite aspect, and they do that since it's only prudent for a destruction class to destroy their aspect through leaning into the opposite one, too. The fact Princes destroy their aspect or destroy with their aspect supports this even more. They're destructive inwards and towards their environment, zeroing in on things having to do with their aspect and, depending on their mental state, destroying the enemies of its well-being or (usually, really) making it wither.
The ways Asriel supports Doom as an aspect are so numerous that it isn't even funny, so I'm just gonna list some things from my aspect notes and provide brief explanations:
affinity for unfortunate events, either in being the victim or invoking them (the incident he and Chara had with buttercups instead of cups of butter, Chara's death and subsequently Asriel's death during the scheme they both agreed on, creating entire timelines where he concocts his own genoroutes)
natural magnet for the worse parts of the narrative (being fated to live as a soulless being by pure chance, since his ashes were on the flowers purely by coincidence)
great supply of empathy and/or wisdom (the former is true for Asriel, who has a soul; the latter for Flowey, who is soulless and tested how things work many times - he even gives you a mock tutorial)
sufferers and martyrs (Asriel sacrificed himself to not kill anyone, even when attacked)
affinity for attunement with some kind of... otherness, alongside Life (like the exiles or horrorterrors in HS, or what I interpret as game mechanics in UT, and kinda just us - Flowey addresses Frisk, Chara and the player all at separate occasions)
Doom's symbolism of skulls, fire, explosions and bombs (he literally uses all these in his various attacks, most in the Omega Flowey form, that one with the added caveat of vaguely destroying Doom by using plants, Life's domain, too; but the skull appears in his Hyperdeath form attack)
literal meanings of death, sacrifice, entropy, acceptance (the first two are already plenty clear, entropy is just what Flowey was doing before we got here again and again, and what he attempts to do as Omega Flowey; and acceptance is what he finally exhibits at the end of True Pacifist)
abstract meanings of deterioration, nihilism, stagnation, static state of affairs, pessimism and limitations (most are already clear - the static nature of Flowey is him resetting again and again, to the point where Sans, along with whoever he was conducting research with, noticed the time anomalies and literally had depression induced because of the fact time is just Standing Still in a loop and nothing seems to matter anyhow so why bother trying <- destroying with Doom at its finest example; but also, the loop could be seen as something exactly opposite, since Flowey always tests something different).
Additionally, as the Extended Zodiac tells us - even though I try to not rely on it too much - the best a Doom hero can be is wise, kind and non-judgmental, while the worst they can be is being filled with bitterness, resentment and fatalism. The difference is between if they cling to the past or if they learn from it.
so, yeah. to sum up, my track record already shows i need very little to get me going about this so i'm very sorry ☝️however, counterpoint: it's really fun to do this hahah
#utdr#undertale#asriel dreemurr#homestuck#classpect#some of the doom stuff was in the spamton analysis but not much really his was kinda the opposite problem#hs#classpect analysis#character analysis#long post#ut#understuck#asriel undetale#asriel#prince of doom#doombound#my meta
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Hi again IEYTD community. You guys are like. So welcoming? I wanted to post again, but I’m actually working on some stuff like a part comic part uh fic thingy thang. It’ll be here eventually. In other news, here’s John. Below cut is me being a theatre kid in real life, pointing out things I haven’t noticed people talking about?
Also, before read more, I wanna say, if anybody wants to like send a message or anything and talk to me abt IEYTD I’d love to chat :3. I’m a bit cautious so I may seem skidding, but I’d love to make some more friends :D
Ok so. Folds my hands.
First off, I wanna point out in the intro, the line “If the worlds a stage, let’s set it on fire.” is a reference to a monologue in a Shakespearean play (sounds about right), search “All the worlds a stage” if you want to check it out. The line referenced is the very start of the monologue, originally going (putting whole sentence, comma indicates a linebreak) “All the worlds a stage, and all the men and woman merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts; His acts being seven ages.” I can’t find much relation to Juniper’s story with this monologue, but I put it out in the world so maybe somebody can. It may just be there as a well known monologue reference? Unsure!
Next off, the fun part. The first mission, Operation: Stage Freight. The play being shown is The Masque of the Red Death, a real play based off an Edgar Allen Poe book. The shorthand, is it’s about a prince who hosts a lavish party in his castle, while the red death is ravaging the outside world, believing himself untouchable. Eventually, some stranger comes in, I’ve seen this stranger interpreted as Death itself, though also a victim of the red death is a possible interpretation (and may be more fitting here?). The prince goes to confront this person, and ultimately dies. I wanna note that the prince does call for the strangers execution for the “insolence”, and when nobody steps up, tries to grab the person himself.
This wasn’t any sort of coincidence, the choice of play. Both from Juniper’s choice, for where they were planning on killing the whole (? Been a second since I watched the mission at full attention) audience, with the literal mask representing the Red Death. But also? I think our John Juniper, who’s playing the prince? I think that’s some good symbolism. I don’t have the energy to continue this right at this, but like. If you read the book/watch the play, you’ll see it. That was intentional casting and play choice from devs and Johnny boy alike, and I think this has a lot of potential we as a fandom haven’t seemed to tap.
That’s all, thank you for reading :3
#ieytd#ieytd2#i expect you to die#i expect you to die 2#John Juniper#ace does art#ace does analysis#is it obvious im a major theatre kid? Maybe. But cmon#This dramatics is like a baited trap.#I have fallen for a box and string trap and I’m not shocked at all. My friends are next.
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Genshin Impact: mysterious door of Hangeh Afrasiyab.
With the release of 3.6 version, during the quest Khvarena of Good and Evil, in the depths of Gate of Zulqarnain players can find the location called Hangeh Afrasiyab. I've seen other lore enthusiasts speculate about the name taken from Hang-e Afrāsiāb or Hang-eafrāsiāb — "the cave in which Afrāsiāb, the fugitive king of Turān, spent his last days".
I'm not going to talk about the Afrāsiāb, for anyone interested I already placed link(s) in the text. My focus is the enormous gate we see there.
If you say it's an entrance or at least is related to Khaenri'ah, you're probably right. The emblem (adornment?) on it, a star, and its colors, remind me of Enjou, the envoy serving under Abyss Prince(ss):
Although my photo is cropped with letterbox, the star is obviously eight-pointed. Because Genshin Impact is heavily impacted (pun intended) by Gnosticism, I must mention the Ogdoad.
In the early days of Gnostic teachings, Ogdoad was a supercelestial region above the seven heavens — and with the better understanding of astronomy — the sphere of the fixed stars. With the introduction of system developed by the theological Valentinus, the seven heavens with the region above them were regarded as the lowest stage of exercise of creative power. Above them was Pleroma, where were exhibited the first manifestations of the evolution of subordinate existence from the great First Principle.
What am I getting at, you ask? I suspect, in accordance to system of Valentinus, Khaenri'ah is the region above seven heavens, while Celestia is Pleroma. Literal underground location has little importance, as Gnostics seem to be allergic to metaphors matching with facts.
No, seriously, trust me on this, when I say you don't want to think too much about relevance and accuracy while analyzing work of Gnostics. Otherwise your brain will melt.
For a nation known for hatred towards Celestia's regime, Khaenri'ahs, including current Abyss Order, sure love including it in their heritage.
Knowing Hangeh Afrasiyab is located in Sumeru, which is based on Middle East, the interpretation of Ogdoad by Ancient Egyptians piqued my interest. Those people saw Ogdoad as a group of eight gods, worshiped in Hermopolis, taking an appearance of snakes (feminine) and frogs or monkeys (masculine), divided into four pairs/couples (BTW, number four is associated with death in Chinese culture and we're talking about Chinese game):
Nun & Naunet — gods of primeval waters;
Kuk & Kauket — gods of darkness;
Huh & Hauhet — gods of infinity/eternity (life's loops, anyone?);
Tenemu & Tenemut — gods of invisibility.
Fun fact: if you try to search up the fourth couple, plenty of academic and religious analysis on Gnosticism pop up. The invisibility is ought to be meant as protection, as far as I understand (spoiler: I don't).
Fits the dynamic between Khaneri'ah and Celestia, doesn't it? That's because, in my honest opinion, it is but another overshadowing, less and less subtle as story progresses, and the main story line shall be eventually easy to predict if you're truly (like, really truly) familiar with Gnosticism.
Most people are not, myself included, and now I wish I had a degree in philosophy instead of administration.
On r/Genshin_Lore someone pointed out that further description of an achievement Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here is a quote engraved above the doors of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno.
Therefore, for the end of my speculations, I am leaving beneath the excerpt of Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake. It's an 18th century book imitating biblical prophecy. No matter what Christians say about Gnosticism and how many Catholics refer to everything they dislike as Gnostic while they mean heresy, these two beliefs wouldn't exist without each other. Same goes to whatever is going on for Khaenri'ah (Abyss Order) and Celestia, as I already mentioned.
Ad astra abyssosque!
THE ARGUMENT
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
Once meek, and in a perilous path
The just man kept his course along
The Vale of Death.
Roses are planted where thorns grow,
And on the barren heath
Sing the honey bees.
Then the perilous path was planted,
And a river and a spring
On every cliff and tomb;
And on the bleached bones
Red clay brought forth:
Till the villain left the paths of ease
To walk in perilous paths, and drive
The just man into barren climes.
Now the sneaking serpent walks
In mild humility;
And the just man rages in the wilds
Where lions roam.
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years since its advent, the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is the angel sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up. Now is the dominion of Edom, and the return of Adam into Paradise. - See Isaiah xxxiv. and xxxv. chap.
Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.
From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil. Good is the passive that obeys reason; Evil is the active springing from Energy.
Good is heaven. Evil is hell.
#Genshin Impact#lore#Gnosticism#egyptian mythology#ancient Egypt#Abyss#Abyss Order#khaenri'ah#Celestia#door#star#lore theories#genshin theory#video game
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Sometimes I wonder if I “run cold.” In relation to body temperature, I don’t often feel warm. I naturally have a lower body temperature than humans, but I don’t mean I necessarily feel the opposite of cold. If I am a naturally cold blooded creature, then everything around me should be blazing hot. Though I wear long sleeves, coats, hoodies and robes. I feel as though I need to be warmed most of the time. In the summer, I wear scarves and it’s controversial amongst mortal friends. My whole body is covered most of the time. I crave a warmth from Daniel I can no longer find, but still pretend is there.
Once in a while I heat my body up in the shower, raising the water to temperatures that other of the Kindred find worrisome. And when I step out of the shower, my entire body tingles as the temperature of it rapidly decreases to it’s normal preternatural state. I wonder if this is what the mortal body feels like as it dies. It makes me wonder if my body could even be considered real at this point. Just like time, what is a body if I am no longer a part of it?
That reminds me that there are these ancient batteries that were found. These clay pots that ran an electric current somehow. Historians think that ancient humans would press their hands to them, and they interpreted the electric shock as proof of God.
Jesse told me that.
I haven’t written much, partially because I forgot about this website for a while. But also I was on another reading kick, inspired by a friend of mine. She is also my mortal age. Someone was also selfish with her body. And she is a friend that reminds me that it’s easier to be curious than destructive. We browsed the Barnes and Noble store for hours one night and I bought a book called “Tender is the Flesh.” It was very fun.
When you’re brought to The Blood at an age on the line of child and adult, the natural process is severed and you’re stuck forever as a ghost who misinterprets everything, because no level of adult wisdom or understanding was ever captured. “I don’t get things.” Benji often tells me. Sometimes I see myself so much in Benji. Everything about us is so similar. He knows about these demons I harbor. We often compare the cult to his foster homes. He wants desperately to go to Palestine. I want to take him so badly, as Marius took me to my homeland. A closed circle. And Benji is weeping to be with his people. He doesn’t remember them, as I had not remembered; taken and brought to a foreign place, not knowing the language, not knowing if he were commodified… only remembering the feeling in his body.
I’m sorry Benji, I shouldn’t tell these people so much about your suffering.
Some other experiences from this week:
A human girl in the bodega called me “King.” I laughed out loud. I’ve been called a prince many, many times, but never a king.
Daniel is increasingly going out completely alone, even to feed. Without me. I feel the skeletal grip of death around my heart again but I refuse to believe it’s an attempt to leave me.
An acquaintance told me I speak like I’m writing a screen play. I told him I’m not very good at speaking. He said, no no, you just have a large vocabulary and you want to use every single word…
…making friends with all sorts of different Kindred across New York City has been surreal. Probably the first time since my theatre and meeting Louis have I extended far beyond my current coven.
#im high and sad and needed to write#kind of a ramble#the vampire armand#the vampire chronicles#tvc#interview with the vampire#iwtv#queen of the damned#journal entry#Daniel molloy#devils minion#benji mahmoud#Anne rice#vcrp
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On the inverse of that post about Homestuck negation abilities; classpects for Negators.
Fuuko: bard of light
Juiz: Prince of Light
Sean: Heir of Void
Andy: Prince of Doom
Rip: something of Life
Latla: Mage of Light
Billy: Lord of Blood
As it happens, I was thinking about this shortly after the other post myself
The Classpects leave a lot of room for interpretation since most are so ill-defined, so the answers I came to were a bit different, albeit similar
Fuuko, Rogue of Light - while she isn't necessarily redistributing the luck she negates, she is taking away the target's luck with the intention or goal of making the world as a whole better; she is using luck for the betterment of others, a direct interpretation of the Rogue Class. Bard works conceptually as she is a more passive cause for destruction through bad luck, but Fuuko herself doesn't fulfill a destructive role in the context of Undead Unluck itself, and in fact makes an effort to remove the fatal element of Unluck through her training and reinterpretation of her Rule. Also Bards are typically a gendered class and I don't want Fuuko to wear a codpiece
Andy, Knight of Doom - a Knight weaponized their Aspect, and Andy literally uses his own death as a weapon. A Prince actively destroys or causes destruction with their Aspect, so that does work perfectly well for Andy as well, but I think it would be more fun if Victor were the Prince and Andy were the Knight
Juiz, Knight of Mind, Thief of Blood - Mind, the Aspect commonly associated with justice, reason and decision-making, is the perfect target for Unjustice, as Juiz takes what the target believes and values and weaponizes it against them. Alternatively, because Unjustice often forces betrayal, one can view her as stealing the bonds between friends for her own benefit, making her a Thief of Blood
Rip, Prince of Life - man is destroying life, plain and simple
Billy, Lord of Blood - I have to give you credit on that one, that's a brilliant interpretation of Billy's character. Lords are an active Class that, through their own Aspect, undergo intense suffering for the sake of their growth as leaders; Billy is a leader of men whose ability is dependent not on fostering friendships but on incurring animosity. I suppose he could also be a Prince, but either way, Blood is the perfect Aspect for Unfair
Shen, Thief of Mind - Shen steals and inverts the intentions of others, typically for his own benefit
I could go on, but there are so many characters and so many combos for concepts that, as I said, are ill-defined at best that it really would take me all day, and sadly I have other plans that need attending to
If I were still in my Homestuck phase, I'd probably be more willing to dedicate a lot of time to this, but sadly/thankfully I am not, so I'm going to call it here before I accidentally reawaken the long-dormant Horrorterrors living in the depths of my Mind-hoodied soul
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"When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay."- Eddard(AGOT V).
"See how it unfurls across the heavens like a dragon's hot breath, and you the Lord of Dragonstone. It means your(Stannis) time has come, Your Grace."- ACOK(Prologue).
The Red Comet is called as dragon's breath by Mel and Selyse. Ned describe the dawn light as dragon's breath. The first one is positive in contrast to second one. But why the word dragon's breath?
All of the discussion around the comet itself is a lot of fun since all the characters interpret it in their own way, but as for the use of dragonsbreath/dragon's breath in that first quote you sent, that is a little odd when so many other little girl/dragon references were incredibly ominous? As you pointed out over here.
We can read it as Ned protecting the girls although there's danger all around them:
Ned knelt beside her. "He has years to find that answer, Arya. For now, it is enough to know that he will live." The night the bird had come from Winterfell, Eddard Stark had taken the girls to the castle godswood, an acre of elm and alder and black cottonwood overlooking the river. The heart tree there was a great oak, its ancient limbs overgrown with smokeberry vines; they knelt before it to offer their thanksgiving, as if it had been a weirwood. Sansa drifted to sleep as the moon rose, Arya several hours later, curling up in the grass under Ned's cloak. All through the dark hours he kept his vigil alone. When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay. "I dreamed of Bran," Sansa had whispered to him. "I saw him smiling."
But considering what happens in AGOT, that doesn't quite work. And Sansa having good dreams is such a contrast to Shireen who has nightmares because of the "dragonsbreath." If you keep reading, this part, which our fandom reads as endgame foreshadowing directly follows:
"He was going to be a knight," Arya was saying now. "A knight of the Kingsguard. Can he still be a knight?"
"No," Ned said. He saw no use in lying to her. "Yet someday he may be the lord of a great holdfast and sit on the king's council. He might raise castles like Brandon the Builder, or sail a ship across the Sunset Sea, or enter your mother's Faith and become the High Septon." But he will never run beside his wolf again, he thought with a sadness too deep for words, or lie with a woman, or hold his own son in his arms.
Arya cocked her head to one side. "Can I be a king's councillor and build castles and become the High Septon?"
"You," Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, "will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon."
Arya screwed up her face. "No," she said, "that's Sansa." She folded up her right leg and resumed her balancing. Ned sighed and left her there. (AGOT, Eddard V)
And if that's right, that the ending was what was on Martin's mind while writing this passage not the events of that specific book, perhaps this is more R+L=J stuff, and Jon, a non-threatening dragonsbreath/dragonspawn will carry on Ned's role of protecting the girls. I mean, the Watch's vows have some similarity to a lonely sentinel keeping watch over sleeping people until dawn:
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.
I think it makes sense that Ned is rewarded for his treason/saving his sister's son. That boy turning around and saving his kids would be a satisfying way to do that. I guess I'm not sure if the dragon's breath here is the threat of Dany + dragons, or talking about Jon because it's describing dawn in this instance which we'd want to see as a positive. I haven't convinced myself of anything! What do you make of it?
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hello. I'm a fan of your david/jonathan. Your david/jonathan is one of my greatest joys these days. When I saw this video, I thought I was going to die because it was so cute. If you see an article about an unknown sudden death, think it's me. And I thought about it a few times, and it seems like the reason the author won't make a sequel is because David's story suddenly turned into a game of thrones after Jonathan died, and the author's beloved David disappeared from there after that. Let's see, making excuses to kill all the men in Saul's royal family except Mephibosheth and his son, separating the princess and her husband, watching Joab kill people because it was profitable, etc. Of course, before that, there were many times when David acted mercilessly, such as eliminating witnesses, but when he started plotting in earnest… wouldn't it be possible to also have a conspiracy theory that David broke Mephibosheth's leg? In the Bible, if we interpret the statement that David had his master's women as meaning that he inherited the prince's women, then the nurse who dropped the child may have received instructions from David. And the reason I did that was because I wanted to save Mephibosheth. So, the novel ended with the death of the two main characters, and since all the main characters died, I don't think there will be a sequel. Well, that was a depressing story. Changing the topic, this video was so cute! Saul must have done great harm to the welfare of the palace staff. Even if they received the same salary, the job satisfaction of palace employees would have been very different when David lived in the palace and when he left. Because it would no longer be fun to eavesdrop outside the door. A job where you can pay money and a job where you get paid are very different. LOL But the best scene was the belt…!
Thank you for liking my take on David/Jonathan! They are kind of a big mix of the different content I have consumed about them. And yeah, I think my favorite shot working on the opera animatic was when David pulled off his belt. We all know what he was about to do! 😏
Yeah, I could also give criticism of The Prince's Psalm that the author's obvious weak point when it comes to writing is how he writes fight scenes and political stuff. There is like only one fight scene, and that is David VS Goliath, and that scene was clunky. The other, what would be considered fight scenes, just fade to black or more like we only see the build-up to it. And when David is in the wilderness is the weaker part of the novel when he is gathering his army and doing political/military warfare. I think Eric Shaw Quinn's strongest traits are the character building and interactions.
Well, David didn't die at the end of the novel. He "died" at the tent when he heard the news of Jonathan's death and only left simply to continue the war. He is not the same person when he sang The Song of Bows even if it has been decades later. And it's pretty much the reason why I would love that the "what if" sequel had someone else as a main character. Like Mephibosheth or Absalom. Because it would introduce us to David as a new character that has changed, and it would make us, the reader, feel a type of longing for him to heal and return to the David we once knew from The Prince's Psalm.
And there are so many different takes you can do with the story of Mephibosheth or Absalom. Especially, there are so many topics you could tackle with Mephibosheth. Like his disability would be a key factor for many issues or themes. David made a rule in his palace that any disabled person would be executed if they entered. So we have Absalom growing up in a palace that was discriminating. And suddenly his own father brings in a disabled young man and says this is his brother, and if anyone hurts him, David will murder everyone. And that pretty much happens in the Bible! Everyone got thrown out of the loop.
It also brings up the question if Mephibosheth really loved David back or was his loyalty only based on him being thankful for David showing him mercy. Does Mephibosheth feel even comfortable that the only reason why he is alive is due to he is Jonathan's son?
I dunno, I love angst. I would eat it whole in one second if I ever got a The Prince's Psalm sequel!
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here's a little write - up of important thorfinn tidbits & events, that i especially find major for my characterization, for anyone who may be interested in plotting soon or who may like future starter calls [ if you're unfamiliar with the story in any capacity ] !
thorfinn, born in 996, is the youngest child of the great jomsviking commander & warrior, thors snorresson [ "troll of jom" ]. his father faked his death & migrated to iceland for a better, calmer life. there he & thorfinn's mother, helga, gave birth to him.
at the age of six it's revealed that thors' former allies learned he was still alive & approached him, stating they will being out to war & he is to join them. thorfinn, being the most skilled in the village, wanted to join his father at battle, telling thors he's fit to fight because of his natural skill eyed by the other men around him. although being told no, thorfinn sneaks onto the ship anyway.
whilst at sea, a danish commander, askeladd takes thors' life in front of thorfinn's eyes. it's then thorfinn sets his mission that for as long as he breathes he will behead askeladd & avenge his father's death. this is the entirety of thorfinn's boyhood, nearly an entire decade with just the intent to murder, nothing but blood on his hands, on his face, in his mouth, & on his blades.
to do this thorfinn essentially lives with askeladd & his band, waiting at askeladd's hand & foot off & on battle. [ this basically entails thorfinn doing askeladd's dirty work; beheading men, stealing jewels, setting villages aflame, being overall mischievous & troublesome. he becomes numb to this ritual, the pain absolutely nothing to him ]; this is because he always let's thorfinn know that for any task he achieves, he will have the chance to duel with him, which is thorfinn's ultimate goal, at the end of the day.
[ * it's kind of fun to note here that thorfinn is canonically very short. around five foot one / five foot two. so imagine you see this little boy on the field, around sixteen - eighteen, with death in his eyes killing grown men with ease. terrifying ]
during these many tasks of receiving riches, losing duels against askeladd, missing his father, & beheading literal commanders of rival teams; thorfinn is asked to watch over a meek, mute prince again his will [ prince, later king, canute; ruler of denmark & england ]. this is all askeladd's doing that has major consequences at the end but i'm not writing thorfinn at that time so it doesn't matter for this blog, not right now <3
random important personality points: thorfinn is extremely hot - headed & rude. childhood aside, he has raised himself & hasn't had any positive figures in his life since his father. this is a boy who taught himself to fight & can kill animals with ease in order to survive.
thorfinn can be selective when he speaks. not mute like canute, but selfish when it comes to his voice. but when he speaks, he speaks.
he's canonically extremely fast. it's one of the first thing people notice about him when he fights. he knows how to angle his body to take less hits &, again in canon, has taken up to 100 punches & was still standing, bruised & bloody, because he's a true warrior.
his family, & everyone in the village, those who remember him, all think he's dead. the last time they saw him was before his father was set to war when he was six. they had no idea he snuck onto the boat with him. in many aus & modern interpretations i have him set as an orphan.
HEADCANON: he's really just a troubled, traumatized baby, tbfh. there's an entire scene where he loses a duel to askeladd & he's so disappointed in himself he becomes a sulking mess. instead of joining dinner with everyone else he sits on his father's ship, in the snow, wrapped in a blanket, seeing astral projection - like images of him & his father when he was a child. his walls are up extremely high & i bet he wishes he could talk to someone about all of this without having to be in fight mode 24/7. just look at him:
#TBT.#i literally jumped up to write this#i figured this would be very important to put out there#and to reference later? because i would genuinely like#to interact with everyone and actually write#so what better way than to have some things laid out
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